Serena Williams (photo ©Emmett Anderson) reached the final undefeated in the round robin, where she defeated Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska. In the semifinals she defeated Jelena Jankovic. She lost only one set in the semifinal. This is her sixth final in the WTA Championships and she won three of the five she played.

Na Li (Li Na or if you prefer the Chinese convention for names) reached the final undefeated in the group stage, where she defeated Sara Errani, Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka. In the semifinals he defeated Petra Kvitova. She lost only one set in the round robin to Jankovic. This is her first final in the WTA Championships.

Li Na starts the match well and breaks Serena Williams, who starts slowly instead, in the third game and again in the fifth game. The American serves bad and only in the seventh game wins her service game for the first time. Na Li today seems better than her opponent in the rallies and wins the first set 6-2.

Serena Williams starts the second set still struggling with her service: she offers Na Li two break points but manages to win her service game. The American and reacts and in the second game for the first time she breaks the Chinese. As often happens in times of stress, Na Li starts making mistakes with her forehand while Williams seems to have found the energy she needs to compete. Nevertheless, in the fifth game surprisingly the Chinese breaks her opponent. The excitement isn’t over because in the eighth game Serena Williams breaks the Chinese again, servees for the set, offers two break points but in the end wins the second set 6-3.

In the third set Serena Williams immediately breaks Na Li, who makes a double fault on the third break point. The Chinese make a few mistakes, including more double faults, and suffers another break in the third game. This makes her lose confidence so she loses her service game again in the fifth game, with another double fault on break point. Serena Williams serves for the match, offers a total of five break points but eventually wins the third set 6-0 conquering the match and the the WTA Championship title.

Na Li played an excellent first set but then she missed some crucial opportunities and at that point started losing confidence, ending with a bed third set unfair for her. It’s a shame because the Chinese finished a season overall fantastic despite some problems.

Serena Williams reached the end of this tournament with little energy and yet has such a competitive spirit that she can find the energy to overturn situations that would be losing for almost all the other players. In the end she still has proven she’s the best woman in world tennis.

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